


Path to Destiny - Act II: Hope and Destruction

by AnnaCipactli12



Series: Path to Destiny [5]
Category: Game of Thrones (TV), Star Wars - All Media Types, The Tudors (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-22
Updated: 2017-04-20
Packaged: 2018-09-19 04:53:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 21,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9419609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnnaCipactli12/pseuds/AnnaCipactli12
Summary: The continuation to the Path to destiny series (if you haven't read those, I suggest you do, otherwise you will get confused by this fic). Decades have passed since the fall of the Empire and the creation of the new republic. The galaxy is in turmoil, taken hostage by a greater evil of disaffected youths and former Imperial commanding officers. At the heart of this conflict, are those whose work is left unfinished and who will be forced to take up the mantle of warriors to defend their loved ones.





	1. Death is but a Door

_"They say that when the Force had Awakened, New Hope had risen, but for those of us who have dedicated our lives to the pursuit of knowledge, we know better._  
Rey wasn't the New Hope that has been fed down our throats. She was the heroine that people needed because they were unable to face facts: that the universe is indifferent to their pain. The First Order, the New Republic, the New Jedi Order, all of it nothing but meaningless repeats in the endless cycle of galactic history."  
**~The New Annals of History by Lord Rickard Tudor-Targaryen, expanded by his co-author, Eliana Dayne**

Arthur devoured her mouth. He had always been gentle but something changed today. He had a dream -where he relived the memory of hearing of Elia and her offspring’s deaths. When he woke, he thought he saw her when she opened her eyes that were filled with insatiable lust. It must have been some kind of trick because when she got on top of him, she became Ambrosia again.

 _Gods help me._ He couldn’t control himself when she began to ride him. Tired of being used as her saddle, he rolled over and inverted their positions. Much better. He thought, thrusting hard into her. Amidst her moans and sighs, he forgot about their current predicament. There was only the two of them, floating weightless in a sea of stars.

She didn’t want to relocate. They had been in the perfect place, safely hidden from the First Order, despite being in plain sight, but when she told him that she was with child, he became alarmed.

When he became part of the kingsguard, he swore a sacred oath that forsook all possessions and emotional attachments. He did it so he could protect Elia and after she died, a part of him died with her. Yet, he went on living, soulless and empty, because he was reminded daily when he guarded that wolf-girl that he had sworn a vow, a vow he wouldn’t be released from until his death.

His second life changed everything though. It was very rare to see a child such as this conceived -and especially through a powerful Force-Sensitive like Ambrosia. Who knew what kind of potential their child would have. And he wasn’t sure if he was ready for fatherhood. He hadn’t been close to his mother; and he had always seen his father as an indolent fool. His younger brother Allem and his sister Ashara, were his family. To a certain extent, so was Elia but that boat had long sailed.

“When are you going to be honest about how you feel about me?” Ambrosia asked him. “It has been two years and you still won’t talk to me about your nightmares. I could just poke into your mind and find out.”

“You do not want to go into my mind, my lady.” He said, knowing that she’d resent being called by her former title.

She slapped him playfully on his arm. “You should not be calling me that. If Tatooine is so safe, why did my aunt leave her school?” She asked him as he came closer and looked at her, his violet eyes flashing with concern.

“Jane Kyra dreamed of making a better world for her students but uncle Luke couldn’t handle being away from her. Sometimes, I think that is why my sister and my cousin became so mad at him.”

“You never told me what happened to their child.” Arthur had heard rumors that before she died, Jane Kyra was pregnant but upon learning of the destruction of the Jedi Academy and the betrayal of her students, she went mad and jumped from the highest cliff.

It was a story he was all too familiar with and one he was tired of seeing being repeated over and over by the strongest women.

Ambrosia told him she didn’t know. Arthur didn’t believe her. He suspected that her knowledge of what had happened to her cousin was one of the reasons she fled.

“I like to think that she is in a better place. She would always sing to us. The students loved her but only a few of us could see the devotion in my uncle’s eyes when he visited her.”

Arthur could relate to that. He had seen how one prince had become mad with desire after he heard the prophecy about the prince that was promised and how he needed to find the “right vessel” to bring him his third head of the dragon. He remembered urging him to reconsider but Rhaegar was past the point of no return by then. _And then he caught me kissing Elia._  
That, more than anything sealed their fates.

“Uncle Luke would tease her, talking about the ‘good old days’. Aunt Jane would return his smiles until one day I caught her arguing with Luke’s wife. She begged her not to tell Luke about her condition but Carina grew mad. ‘He needs to know. I can’t give him children but you can.’ They argued some more and then my uncle Luke arrived and he immediately knew.”

Ambrosia’s eyes showed immense sadness. “My aunt wanted nothing more than to make life easier for everyone but uncle Luke was so caught up in their destiny, the destiny of the galaxy and giving his life purpose that he never considered that he was slowly killing my aunt.”

Arthur understood. More than she could ever think. Devotion was powerful, used for good, it could create wonders but blind devotion was terrible. It destroyed the soul, and ate away the goodness left in your significant other’s heart.

Seeing Elia again, he got closer and kissed her. The two of them became lost in their passion, unaware that Dawn was glowing and that the life-force in her child had created a disturbance in the Force that was sensed by her fraternal twin.

* * *

 

Anakin watched the stars. The more he stared at the night sky, the more he became aware of his insignificance. He had seen the gods. Angels, celestials, they were called by many living things in the galaxy, but all of them were the same. Uncaring, unyielding and cold as the howling winds.

His eyes were lowered and turned to the dark forest. Kids dared each other to see who lasted the longest outside his house before he got out and told them to go away. He had become the old hermit, just as Obi Wan had been when he guarded his offspring in Tatooine.

He began walking, ignoring the sound of the cold winds, that became more violent the deeper he got into the dark forest. He stopped when he saw a beautiful figure dressed in white and silver.

Mary.

She beckoned him to come, to follow him deeper until they were together again.

“I can’t.” He said, his voice filled with annoyance as she looked down then up again, visibly hurt by her denial. “I am not the prince you seek, Mary. I never was.”

She smiled. ** _Yes, you are._** Darth Plagueis and the red priests had done her a great injustice forcing her to reincarnate as Obi Wan and Catherine’s daughter. It had made her confused and subject to horrors worse than the ones she had inflicted on her victims.

She got closer to him and touched his lips. **_Feel me._** She begged him. ** _I am yours as you are mine. Nothing will change that._**

“It has.” He said softly as his lips came down. Can you blame a man for losing touch with reality when he was face to face with her true form? It was like feeding off a super-nova. But before he could slip further, he was brought back from his madness by the cries of children chasing each other near his home.

He gave her one sorrowful glance then turned on his heel and returned inside. ** _Come back._** She seemed to be saying as she stretched her arm, her white skin glowing in the darkness. When he locked the door behind him, the children causing all that noise left and the winds stopped.

* * *

 

Rey searched the vast wastelands for more spare parts. Sometimes she’d dreamed of her past, and a part of her would scream at that beautiful figure with eyes so blue that it felt like she was lost in an ocean (what she imagined being lost in clean water must feel like, since she had only seen images of such places in holograms and heard of them from tales of space travelers), “why did you leave me?” before she’d wake up and remember that this is where she was and likely, this is where she’d die.

 _Maybe not._ There was still hope that she could still see her parents. See what they’d look like. She imagined that they had a good excuse for leaving her here. _The First Order and the New Republic are at each other’s throats and the Resistance is the new hope of the galaxy, so they must have been warriors from either side. Preferably the Resistance. I can’t imagine my parents belong to the First Order and not use me or train me to a sadistic officer._

She had heard how the First Order tortured its prisoners and killed everyone who disobeyed them. They were led by a Supreme Leader. _Talk about being lackeys_. Jakku wasn’t perfect, but at least no one was at the mercy of one person. Just many, but we all get by. We just do what we do to survive.

She was unaware that as she got back into the cot she made of a former AT-T walker, she was being watched by the same porcelain skinned figure she dreamed about.


	2. Wicked Games

_“No one can save me but you_  
_Strange what desire will make foolish people do_  
_I never dreamed that I’d meet somebody like you_  
_I never dreamed that I’d lose somebody like you_  
_No, I don’t want to fall in love_  
_this world is only going to break your heart_  
_No, I don’t want to fall in love … with you_  
_this world is only going to break your heart."_  
**~Wicked Game, Coves version.**

 _I am no one._  She thought, trying to break free from her illusions that tomorrow was going to be a better day. But can you blame her when all she had were her dreams? It was what made life in the desert tolerable.

When she dreamed, she dreamed of happier days. She had collected a mirror from one of the old ladies at the junkyard near Kelvin Ridge. It was the farthest she had gone (on foot). She never got the old woman’s name. She simply smiled and gave her the mirror. “Free of charge” she said, then when Rey returned the following week, fashioning a doll out of straw as thank-you gift for her, she was nowhere to be found.

 _Strange._ But since when has my life not been strange? In one of her dreams she looked at herself in the mirror. She had woken up to another eventful day in Jakku, smiling, telling herself that today was going to be a better day but then her face changed to that of a twelve-year-old. Instead of her complicated hair style that remained unchanged since she had been dumped on this planet, was two thin tresses amidst long-straight hair. It was the same color, yet her face was not the tan-skin she had acquired throughout the years of toiling in the sun. It was pale, very pale.  
What struck her was the left side of her face. At first she thought she was seeing things and gods knew that she was already questioning her own sanity, but when she saw the stony markings on her skin and touched it, she thought that this had to be some bloody joke.

Former members of a coven of witches who visited the planet said that they could curse people at will. They talked about their home planet, Earth, and the gods they worshiped. One in particular caught her attention. **_Melusina._** It sounded familiar. She couldn’t figure out where she heard it, but she knew she had heard it from somewhere.  
When she asked them about her, they said that she had reborn and died again. What they said made no sense, but the way they said it, scared her. Like every visitor, they didn’t stay too long.  
_Could it be that they’d curse her?_ She thought as she kept touching her stony skin. It didn’t hurt. She thought it was a burn or some kind of disease, but it didn’t feel too rough, although it wasn’t soft like the rest of her skin.

When Rey woke up, she checked herself in the mirror to make sure that she was still the same person. She gave out a sigh of relief when she saw her reflection. No scarred face, no weird feeling when she touched her left side. Everything was normal. She went back to sleep. This time, there were no nightmares, no visions; Rey was able to sleep peacefully.

* * *

 

“I am not afraid of wielding a weapon. My great-grandmother rode to battle while she was pregnant, so did the last countess of Northumberland before the Imperial forces wiped hers out.” Ambrosia said, taking on a dagger and throwing it at Arthur knowing that it’d miss him by an inch.

She chuckled when he grimaced at her. He pushed the dagger out of the wall and gave it back to her.

“This is not a laughing matter, Ambrosia.”

“I know. But good humor never harmed anybody. Besides, I am right.”

He resisted the urge to tell her she wasn’t, but seeing how she was this close to get into one of her moods, he decided to nod his head and go back inside.

“Ah, come on, it was a simple jest. I can handle myself. I studied under Luke and Jane Skywalker, and I was one of the top of my class.”

“Skill has little to do with this. Our child could be a strong Force sensitive. Don’t you understand that nothing like this has ever happened before?” He hissed after the door behind her was shut. “I am thrice your age, I should be dead but here I am. I am not normal, your family isn’t normal, this child won’t be normal either.”

“You do not have to talk to me in that tone, as if I was a child.”

“I …” He bit his lip. His patience was running thin. He wanted to yell at her, make her see reason that she was endangering their lives and the life of her unborn child with these shenanigans. “… want what is best for you. But you have to listen to me, otherwise they will find you and I have seen enough of the galaxy to know what people are capable of if they feel threatened.”

“Then we will just run off somewhere else.”

He looked at her like she had lost her mind. “Is this all a game to you? Your mother will stop at nothing to use you if she finds out that you are pregnant with her grandchild and will use it as well to stop your sister and cousin; and when the both of you have outrun your use, he will abandon you just like she did before.”

“You do not have to yell.”

“I am not yelling, I am telling it as it is, Ambrosia. Your mother is a proud woman who has become a monster just like your aunt, General Organa.” For Ambrosia this was all a game of hide and seek. Despite her daily struggles at her uncle’s academy, she had been sheltered from the outside world.

She hadn’t witnessed the horrors he’d seen. Nor was she aware of the type of woman her mother was. Like the General, she had no qualms about using people, including members of her family, to achieve her ends. When he’d seen Marion Tyrell and Leia Organa on the holo-vision, he was disgusted. Everything about them reminded him of Rhaegar, the friend who betrayed his wife and his duty for love, and most of all, the woman who had been the reason behind his madness.

But there was another reason, one he still didn’t acknowledge because he was afraid of being right. Since she had told him she was with child, his dreams had become more vivid. He remembered what the lady Mary told him in Mortis. _“I can lead you to her … The two of you could be together in a sea of stars, living forever in pure bliss.”_ It had been a tempting offer, but he reminded the woman of his duties.  
He was not Anakin Skywalker, a love-sick fool who thought with his heart rather than his head. He had been free of his sacred vows after he was brought back to life by Kinvara, but didn’t mean that he would act on his basic instincts. He had seen what passion had done to the galaxy and he had no wish of repeating his friends’ mistakes.  
_But there is something in her that you cannot die._ Perhaps it was the Martell blood that made him think of Elia when they were together. _Or perhaps it is something else._  
_No,_ he thought. _Elia is dead._ But if Melusina had been reborn, and Anakin been a product of the dark side, what was to say that Ambrosia wasn’t Elia reborn.

“Arthur, I get it. You are worried that they might find me and use me. Believe me, I get it but you can’t live in fear for the rest of your life. You’ve taught me how to use a heavy sword, I have the Force as my ally and you are the best sword fighter in the galaxy. If they find us, we will be ready for them.” She brought her hand to his cheek.

Her touch was gentle, her tone playful and her eyes dark brown as his late princess. There was a tinge of fear in him. He had failed to protect Elia, he wouldn’t fail her.

Ambrosia could feel what he felt. The babe inside of her amplified her ability to feel what others felt, especially its father. She wished that she could transmit positive thoughts to him but whenever she tried, she was rejected. Arthur said that his family were among the original settlers of Dorne and legend had it that they descended from river spirits which made them impossible to control by Force-Sensitives. She believed there was more to it. Arthur had been brought back from the dead, unchanged, by the high priestess of the temple of the red god in Volantis. Could it be that she had passed on her powers to him? Or maybe, when his soul had found its way back to his body, he had been affected by the other side and brought something else with him?  
_We are not normal. Our baby is not normal._ His words rang in her head that night after they had gone to sleep.

She wanted to be like her aunt Jane who always found a way to make everyone feel better, even after everything seemed lost. She had been the closest thing she had to a mother. Her own becoming more distant as she became invested with the Resistance. At first, she thought of thinking of Ben’s parents as the ideal couple. They seemed so in love and for a time, they reminded her of her mothers before the creation of the First Order.  But after seeing how crazy Ben and his friends were becoming, she turned to her other aunt.  
_She never complained. Never cried. When I needed her, she was there._ Even when she hadn’t asked for her presence, she was right there with her. Sometimes she didn’t need to say anything, her smile was enough. When her sister and Ben and their friends turned against Master Luke and Jane, she ran. First to her mother, thinking that she’d understand her plight. But boy, she was wrong. Her mother told her that she was a Tyrell and a Martell and as such, she needed to adopt their stoicism, otherwise she would be an easy target for her sister and her dark brethren.  
She begged her not to send her to battle. Her mother didn’t listen. The woman who had given birth to her had changed. Her second mother’s death, Doreah Sand, changed her even more. When Ambrosiad threatened to leave, her mother grabbed her arm, and told her to suck it up. _“You are of the blood of Oberyn Martell, and mine. You will help me and your aunt fight the First Order and restore balance to the galaxy!_ ” It was at that point that she knew she had lost both of her mothers. Nodding to her mother, she promised that she would. When everyone was busy overseeing the reparations of the new ships, she escaped on one of the old ships. The rest was history.  
She had found Arthur. They were immediately drawn to one another. She didn’t give herself illusions. She knew she reminded him of his long lost love; that was fine with her. As long as she had someone to share her burden with. _Although, he has grown on me._ She smiled softly thinking of the first time she was aware of the little life growing inside of her. A part of her told her that he’d reject her and run away. The more reasonable part of her however, pointed out that he wouldn’t. He was a knight. Even after he had abandoned his vows, he still lived by that chivalric code.  
She wished that he could see her as more than a replacement for Elia, but she was happy bearing his child because she was aware of how much this meant to him. _Through me, his sword can keep on glowing._ A man as honorable as him deserved to be remembered.    
Who cared what her family thought. She was happy where she was.

Suddenly she thought of something. The galaxy needs something to take its mind of its poor state. If nobody was going to do a thing to stop this endless war, then she’d give them an alternative world. One where the song of ice and fire was one that ended with the promise of spring. A bittersweet ending to a bleak tale. The Star Wars that ended with the golden team forming a new republic -one that responded to the needs of its citizens and was ready for the threats that were looming on the horizon. One where Luke and Jane successfully led the New Jedi Order, where her aunt Leia and uncle Han never separated, where they became celebrated heroes and not returned to a life of endless politics and piracy.  
One where magic was used for good. Where the Force was this benign entity that could be learned by every being, Force-sensitive or not.

* * *

 

General Hux gave no hints of the happiness he felt when he saw the woman before him brought down to his knees by Eris Ren. “After all this time, you still think that tears will move me.” She said. Her voice was distorted by her mask.

While many of his fellow officers found her scary, he was amused by her. He wished he could say the same with Kylo Ren, but the man was the biggest man-child he had seen, prone to temper-tantrums and outbursts that would make everyone laugh if he wasn’t so powerful in the Force.  
His mother had taught him never to trust anyone. _“You are not safe. Nobody can protect you except yourself.”_ Most of all, she reminded him of how dangerous beauty was. He was among the few who had seen Eris Ren’s face. He kept the image of her porcelain skin, blue-green eyes and dark brown hair to himself.

Eris turned to Hux. Unlike her cousin’s mask, hers consisted of a mask that revolved around to reveal another mask. Three expressions. One of passivity, neutrality. Another one, mocking her victim, and finally the third expression, one that gave the illusion that she was crying. Like the second one, it served to mock her victim, but unlike the first two, it was the cruelest one since it fooled them, thinking that she had been won by their plight, before she used her mental techniques to break them.

Hux nodded, knowing that she was about to show her victim that face.

“My dear, dear Harion. You and your friends mocked Rhea, Ben and their friends back at the Academy, do you remember?”

The young woman remembered. She nodded, spilling more tears. She felt a shiver running through her spine as she heard Eris laugh. “You told Rhea to suck it up. You turned others against me. Who was it? That ninny Marood and her sister Rabe.”

“Rhea, you said awful things about the new republic, I thought-“

“You didn’t think.” She said patiently stretching her hand, levitating her off her feet. Harion felt her throat constrict. “Always so self-righteous. I truly lament that I cannot be the monster you think I am. General Hux here wanted to send all of you to send you to the lower levels where all the dirty criminals are. I told him ‘no, you would be raped and then what would that say of First Order hospitality.”

Her mask produced a blue glow in her eyes and then tiny sparks descended from them, giving the impression that she was crying.

“Rhea, I know you are still there. If you truly want to make the galaxy a better place, go back to your mother. She misses you and so does your aunt. You are gifted, together we can destroy the First Order.”

Inside her mask, the young woman who had once been Rhea Tyrell-Martell smiled deviously. “It is too late for me but do not worry, I promise you that I will spare you the pain of having to watch them die.”

Harion was about to scream at her when she felt an invisible force squeezing her neck. With one wave of her hand, Harion Ez neck snapped.

Armitage was unimpressed by the corpse. He ordered the Stormtroopers to take her body away and put it in a trash compactor where it would be recycled and turned into disposable goods for lower sectors.

Kylo Ren preferred to have corpses burned and use their ashes to rest his helmet on. Eris had no use for them. Once she was finished with her enemies, she had no wish of seeing or sensing them again.

“Supreme Leader wants you to take the second battalion to Felucia where the Resistance’s new quarters have been installed.”

“I am well aware of what the Supreme Leader wants.” She said, her mask changing to one of mocking. “Do not alarm yourself, Hux. I have no intention of overstepping my authority. I will do as he commands.”

She never repeated herself to anyone but for Hux she made an exception. Like Kylo, she found him fascinating, irritating at times but fascinating.

Armitage watched her go. He felt sorry for the Resistance fighters. He truly did. If there was one who could trick others into divulging new republic intelligence, it was her.


	3. The gods are dead

_"Dear God, I hope you got the letter_  
_and I pray that you can make it better down here_  
_I don't need big reductions in the price of beer_  
_But all the people that you made in your image_  
_see them starving on their feet_  
_because they can't get enough to eat from God_  
_I can't believe in you!_  
_Dear God, sorry to disturb you_  
_but I feel that I should be heard loud and clear_  
_we all need big reductions in the amount of tears_  
_and all the people that you made in your image_  
_see them fighting in the street_  
_Because they can't make opinions meet about God_  
_I can't believe in you!"_  
**_~Dear God by Epic Pop_ **

**DOREAH SAND, BELOVED WIFE AND MOTHER**

Read her tombstone. Poor Doreah, she wanted to be buried instead of being cremated. _“It is my faith Marion. It is your faith too. It is what my father would have wanted._ ” She told Marion as she lay dying. She gave her one last smile and then breathed her last.

Marion was not for tears, but she cried silent as she remembered Doreah’s last days. _It seems ironic that the same poison her mother and eldest sister famously used to take out their enemies, was used against her._ She was not for one begging either, but seeing her beloved dying, she begged her to take the antidote. Doreah shook her head then whispered in her ear _“I lived my life. Protest Rhea and Ambrosia. They are your legacy, my father’s legacy. They are our golden suns.”_

Doreah spoiled their daughters' rotten. They were all that remained of the Martell line. She wasn't sure if Oberyn's seed was the right donor for their child but Doreah insisted. _"My moment in the sun."_ She said. So she caved in. Nine months later, the twins were born. 

Half Marion, half Oberyn. Doreah instantly took to them. Marion and Leia were also busy looking after the new Republic that they barely had time to spend with their children so naturally Doreah looked over all them. Ben loved her. He was like his true mother and of course Ambrosia hid behind her skirts whenever Marion scolded her for failing her exams. Rhea was the easiest one. Extrovert but responsible. She was everything one wanted in a child. _And such a jolly, little girl._

But children grow up. Sending her and her sister to the Jedi Academy changed them. Ambrosia became a ninny, and Rhea took her attitude towards her as motherly betrayal. Losing Doreah, had sealed their fate for good.

A tear fell down the old woman's cheek.  “ _No one is supposed to see you cry_.” She imagined her lady grandmother saying. Cersei. She was never afraid to tell others what was on her mind. Her mother was more diplomatic. Her great-grandmother shared Cersei’s opinion that no woman should ever be afraid of saying what was on her mind but when Marion was a child, she was afraid.

The first time she saw Darth Vader, she was entranced.

_“Pardon me, good sir.” A six year old Marion said, giving him a full smile. She could feel her grandmother and great-grandmother’s hard stares on her. She didn’t care. She wanted to meet this great man. She had heard that he was the most powerful man in the galaxy. After the Emperor, of course. She was always dazzled by powerful people. Her grandmother would talk to her about her father, Lord Tywin Lannister, like he was some kind of God, so naturally she wanted to meet someone as grandiose as the dark lord of the Sith._

_But when Lord Vader looked down on her, he took off his helmet. One of the few times that he did. This wasn’t the grand gala that people expected the Aldeeran Queen and her Prince Consort to throw. It was a private affair. But Marion preferred to think of it as something big, an occasion where she could shine._

_Her mother told her to be on her best behavior. To be kind and as always act friendly towards Princess Leia. Her mother didn’t need to remind her. Leia was more than her friend; she was like a sister to her._

_“A good Lord doesn’t need to acknowledge his subjects, especially when they can’t pronounce his title correctly.”_

_Many of the people around them laughed. Marion looked down on her feet. Her mother came running towards her and told Lord Vader she was just a child and didn’t know better._

_“If she doesn’t then why is she here with people who are far better suited for a little girl?" The way he said 'little girl' made those around him laugh._

_Marion felt terrible. She had just embarrassed herself and as a result, her mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. Thankfully her great-grandmother came to her rescue and remarked on Lord Vader's 'poor manners'. If looks could kill, Lord Vader would already have been dead. To make matters worse for the dark lord of the Sith, her grandmother, Cersei Lannister, remarked on how easy it was for senseless brutes to be treated as gentlemen._

_After he left, Margaery told her never to show weakness ever again. "You are my daughter. You have a lot to recommend you. People will laugh at you and look like you are nothing, you must look at them back. Life is about fighting. Bad people like him," she said, running her fingers through Margaery's light brown hair, "get stronger when they see someone beaten. Never give him or anybody else the pleasure of seeing you sad."_

_"But how can I be good when bad people are stronger?"_

_"You can be good and be strong. People like Lord Vader and the Emperor pride themselves on being arrogant. Arrogance is a weakness. You win more battles with your smile than with brute force, although it doesn't hurt to learn a few lessons from your teachers." She said._

Marion was brought back to the past by the sound of Poe's heavy footsteps.  _About time he came._ “Where is my daughter?” She asked him. Poe gave her a sympathetic smile. He had always been good friends with Ambrosia. He considered her the best of the Skywalker bunch. He tried hard to convince her not to run away.

Poe bit his lower lip.

“Tell me Poe. I deserve to know.” She said. Unlike with other people, she wasn’t commanding him. Though she wasn’t one for begging, that is what it sounded to Poe.

Poe finally gave in, giving her a folder. When Marion looked at it, she wanted to cry then curse to the four winds. “How long?”

“Two, four, maybe longer than that.”

“What do you think?”

“Me, my lady? I think she has been with him since she ran away.” Poe said giving her a sympathetic smile. _Amby, if you can only see how your mother is suffering._

“Get her back to me, Poe. Tell her she must come.” _It is her duty_ -was left unsaid, but she didn’t need to say to Poe who understood the situation completely.

He traveled to Tatooine where he found her in the market trying on new diadems. _Has she given birth, yet?_ Under those heavy clothes, it was impossible to know.

He decided to make his presence less known by renting one of the rooms in the Inn not far from where she was. She didn’t seem to notice him -which was good. _Amby_. He sighed and looked away when her lover came and kissed her. He turned to look at her again. Her lover placed his hand on her stomach. _At least now I know she is still pregnant._ He whispered something in her ear which made her pout then she pushed her finger on his closed mouth and laughed when his expression became apprehensive.

 _Still old Amby._ She always had a way of pissing everyone off while still making them smile afterwards. _If there was one person …_  
He shook those dangerous thoughts from his head. The past was past; the Resistance needed her so she could help them defeat the First Order.  
_They look so happy._ He had to play the role that was assigned to him by her mother and break them apart. General Organa was gentler, more motherly, advising him where to strike.  
_“She is a woman, Poe. If there is one thing that women cannot face, is walking a dangerous journey alone.”_  
Ambrosia laughed harder when he told her, what Poe could only guess by his face, to look after herself better _. “She will need you.”_

* * *

When she went to look for more spare parts, she kept a few to herself, including a plant that wasn’t indigenous to Jakku. It was a special kind of planet, one that could survive dangerous weather. _That’s not what I am after._ She wanted to visit other Imperial remnants. It was said that the Empire had been conducting secret experiments during its last year. She was bound to find good junk that would get her bigger portions than the ones the one from those old Star Destroyers got her.

Tonight’s dream was even weirder. She found the same woman lamenting that she had killed her daughter, screaming her name over and over until Rey told her to stop.

“What is your deal with me? I am not your daughter. I am not who you should be apologizing to!”

But that only made things worse. She fell to her knees then leaned forward and held on to her leg. Rey wanted to kick her. A voice in her head told her to kill her, but seeing how fragile she looked, she couldn’t do that.

Rey knelt down and put both hands on the woman’s shoulder. “Look, I don’t know who you are but if what you say is true, I think the best way to make things right for your daughter is by telling her you are sorry.”

“But you are my daughter. My beautiful Shireen.” Rey was about to roll her eyes. “I am so sorry.” She touched her cheek, the one that Rey had touched when she looked at herself in the mirror a year ago and thought she’d saw a scarred twelve-year-old staring back at her.

Suddenly, she felt smaller. She opened her mouth to tell her to stop when she screamed. “My voice!”

 _No, that is not my voice. And this woman is not my mother!_ She recalled her mother from other dreams. She was beautiful! This woman was ugly.

“How beautiful you look, just like your old self. Oh Shireen -if only I could make things right by you. I wish that I never listened to that red priestess. I should have done better by you. I wanted to give Stannis a son because I thought that would secure his throne but I was wrong. You are the greatest thing that ever happened to me and I was too blinded by my faith to see it. Can you ever forgive me?” She wrapped her arms around her.

Rey was at a loss of words. She wanted to yell ‘no’ but then flashes of a life she didn’t know she had lived came to her and she saw a man embracing her, telling her that she was worthy of her name. She was younger and she saw her mother kiss her forehead telling her that she wished her to be a boy and that she wouldn’t have greyscale.

 _So this is what this is._ She thought as she touched that part of her cheek that now felt rough.

“Yes.” She said to her ‘mother’. “I forgive you.”

The woman smiled for the first time since she visited Rey’s dreams then vanished. Rey got up. She touched her cheek. It felt soft. She was back to her normal self again.

This dream couldn’t mean nothing. The woman was probably crazy. The living were crazy enough, so it wasn’t far fetched to see why some of them would continue be raving lunatics in the afterlife. She was back at the remnants of the old Temple. Every step she took, she could hear whispers.

The floor seemed to be dissolving all of a sudden and she was in a private room. This setting felt more familiar, the room looked like one of the ‘finer’ places she’d visited on Jakku. It was small, one bed, one portrait, and a drawer. A woman was on the bed screaming. Next to her was a man. He looked frustrated.

“How much longer is this going to take?” He asked the med droid and the physician, an alien whose black eyes were big. Rey knew what species he was, a distant cousin of the Munin. He lowered his head and opened his small mouth. “Not long. You insisted on her screams so the child would come out quickly.”

“I would have preferred if she lost it if I knew that it would take longer.”

The med droid told her to calm down and ease on her pushes. “Anakin … He needs to be here.” She looked accusingly at her male companion and the physician. “Bring him, he needs to be by my side.”

The alien doctor looked sympathetic to her and was about to do her bidding when the human male told him to stop and go back to assist his patient.

“How can you be so cruel? You are keeping Anakin from fulfilling his destiny, with me by his side. This child is a product of our love.”

“Anakin Skywalker thought he was in love with the Senator from Naboo when he was a child and then he thought he was in love with you when you impressed him with your mother’s Spanish dances on Henry VIII’s court. You are nothing but a fancy to him.”

The pregnant woman smiled. It was as if she was mocking him. It was at this point that Rey noticed that the man was armed and his hand was close to his sword, as if warning her not to provoke him.

Although Rey could see the woman, her face was hard to make out. It was blurry, but her voice sounded familiar.

Rey wanted to be by her side and comfort her and tell her she didn’t have to listen to what that jerk was saying but when she got an inch closer to her, she woke up.

Just who was that woman? _Can she be my mother?_ It sounded about right. Her clothes looked out of date, so it might have been her birth she was about to witness. But who was this Anakin Skywalker? Did he have something to do with the legendary Luke Skywalker? She thought that the Jedi were a myth. Something that parents told their kids at night to feel good, and the Sith, the same thing, to scare them.

But it must be her. It was a pity that she couldn’t have her mother by her side. It will be a pain in the neck to find out that man is my father. Or was. Who knew what had happened to them since they left her on this rock. She hoped not. Her father should be someone who had fallen in love with her mother, and who would protect her from all evil. It is why they left me here. She always heard people being loving to one another in the core worlds and since her accent was similar to theirs, she guessed her parents must be from those parts. The woman in her dreams certainly had a core world accent.

What did she mean by ‘Anakin should know’? Was he her father, or was she the product of a mindless fuck? That didn’t sound right. All children were supposed to be the product of love.

A part of her knew better. There were brothels not far from where she was where mothers were not ashamed of using their children as bargaining tools for more rations. Girls would sell for more, while boys would be the fuck-toys of men and women alike.  
Rey was going through an old Rebel Alliance cruiser when she caught sight of one of the boys escaping from one of the brothels. She hid him in one of the abandoned rooms of the ship. When the men chasing him made inquiries, she shook her head and claimed ignorance. They tried to had their way with her but she beat them up pretty good, leaving her alone. A day later, she found him hiding in the same spot. He thanked her. Rey gave him some rations and secret valuables she had saved up to buy one of the garbage ships from Plutt; but seeing how desperate this boy was, she figured out he needed it more than she did.

She never saw him again. She hoped that he was okay and that he was making an honest living somewhere else.

She went to bed again and closed her eyes. Before she dreamed again, she thought ‘what happened to you mama?’ What made you and my father leave me here instead of taking me with you?

* * *

“Rhea.” She heard his voice. She didn’t have to turn to know who it was.

“That’s not my name anymore.”

“I don’t care what you call yourself now. You are still my great-granddaughter. You have my blood.” Obi Wan said. “Your mother misses you dearly.”

“Really? Which one? Doreah would always hold me and put me on her lap while my birth mother was too busy scolding Ambrosia.”

“Ambrosia is gifted like you are. Your mother wanted her to have the same opportunity in Luke and Jane’s academy as you.”

“That is not how I saw it. Every time I tried to help her, Ambrosia would just play dumb and Doreah would come and try to calm her while great, princely Marion would yell at her. She was no more mother to her than she was to me.” All she remembered was a shadow, angry and strict.

Obi Wan sighed. He sat in one of the chairs in her bedchamber. “I wish you could make peace with her. There is a storm coming, the Supreme Leader will be no different than Palpatine. Once he finishes with you and Kylo, he will kill you like he did with Cassandra.”

“Cassandra was a fluke in the Force. I am not. Kylo and I have Anakin Skywalker’s blood flowing in our veins and what is more, I am part Martell and Kenobi. He will always need us.” She said turning to face her ghostly great-grandfather.

“That is where you are wrong, Rhea. The Supreme Leader doesn’t care for anybody. He sees you and Kylo as tools.”

“He is no different than my mother then. At least with him, I know when I am being used.”

“For the love of the Force, Rhea, listen to me for once. He is going to kill you once he is done with you. And if he doesn’t, then he will find out about you and the General.”

She glared at him. Good, at least I am getting a reaction from her now. “You can make as many excuses as you want. I know you have been seeing him. His mother probably knows too. Lady Sansa cares very little for him. She wants to use him to get revenge on your family. If she thinks you are spoiling her plans, she will expose the two of you or take care of him, herself.”

“I won’t let her.”

“Lady Sansa is a survivor who unlike you has been through unimaginable torment. If she sees something she wants, she is determined to get no matter what the cost. It is how she has stayed alive all these years.”

“Lady Sansa doesn’t have the Force like I do.” Or her son -she wanted to say, but that would probably reveal who his true father was to the dead Jedi, if he didn’t know already.

“You are walking a dangerous path, Rhea. You still have the chance to do good by your name, by your ancestry. Leave this place, fight the dark side. Don’t follow in your ancestors’ footsteps. The dark side made Anakin and Mary miserable. It left nothing of them except a void they were always hungry to fill but never could.”

She chuckled. She gave him a sardonic smile. “You have a way with words but you forget something in your little equation great-grandfather. You think Lady Sansa suffered? What about Kylo? When he was simply Ben, he was Luke Skywalker’s most gifted student. He was on his way to become part of his new Jedi Council when uncle Luke went crazy and instead held him back because of some Force vision he had.” Her tone softened and her smile died. “The irony is that by holding him back he made his nightmare come true and when he tried to stop it, it was too late. It wasn’t just Kylo, it was me and all our friends. Ambrosia was there too. She begged all of us to stop but we didn’t want to listen. Kylo always had a thing for my sister so he tried to convince her to join us. I told Kylo it would be no use, my sister is a sanctimonious bitch like you, but” she sighed, “Force damn him, he still tried. When it was obvious that she wouldn’t join us, he tried to use the Force to manipulate her and that is when we all discovered the true extent of her powers. Ambrosia ran like a mad man to our mother, and just like I expected her, she told her to ‘woman up’ and stop crying and kill us to bring balance to the galaxy.”

She gave another chuckle, it was cold and humorless. “Kylo told me ‘she will join us now’. I knew better, so did General Hux. Noble, goody-two-shoes Amby, ran away leaving Kylo to his temper tantrums, our birth mother to her ire, and me to saying to everyone ‘I told you so’. That is your so called ‘good’ side. It is filled with nothing but cowards and whining fools.”

“Your sister shied away from her responsibilities, she ran away from her destiny but you, you betrayed everything the Jedi have stood for, for thousands of generations. But there is still time to make things right.”

“It is too late. I am what I am now.” Rhea said and she turned away, sensing that Hux was near. She put her helmet on, becoming the feared Eris Ren. When she greeted the General, Obi Wan was nowhere to be found.

* * *

 

In a distant world, the second Senator from Earth was hosting one a ball for some of the most influential politicians and resistance leaders in the galaxy Among her guests was General Leia Oragana, Colonel Tyrell-Martell, her companion, thrice elected, first Senator and prime minister of Earth, Jane Seymour and of course, the newly elected Chancellor of the new republic, one of the most incompetent politicians ever to attain that post. There was also the seasoned Lieutenant General and Prime defender of the New republic forces, Eddard Targaryen.

Few people caught the lingering looks that their host and the Lieutenant General gave each other. Most of her guests were too busy enjoying themselves, forgetting about the politics to notice the tension between these two.

Leia did though. She could not help but feel pity for them. Although she knew that it was not what the woman would have wanted from the former rebel princess, it was impossible not to feel that way when she had seen what the younger woman had to go through to stay alive. Despite everything, she still loves him. 

When she turned her attention to her sister, Elizabeth and Ned sneaked to her chambers. "It has been too long." She said when they were inside.

Ned smiled. He had grown a beard just for her, knowing how much she loved that look. It was well-trimmed, not too long or shabby. It reminded her of her father's court, back in the day before the Empire took over.

"It has. One more minute humoring that idiot and I would have blown my brains out." Ned said, referring to their new chancellor.

Bess chuckled. She kissed him. They were strong adherents to the rules but when it came to them, they could care less about what was right. 

"Your niece has made history as the youngest scholar and lieutenant general in history." Bess said after they finished making love.

Ned groaned. It wasn't a topic that he fancied; he hadn't seen his niece in over a year. Despite her merits, he didn't think she was ready to fly along the Resistant Rogue Squadrons. 

"She knows more than 20 languages and is among the best fighters in her generation. She doesn't need the Force to lead others into victory. She could be very useful to the Resistance."

"That is out of the question, Bess. I made a promise to my sister that I would protect her and I intend to keep that promise."

Bess sighed. She placed her hand on his cheek. "She is twenty six years old. I say she is old enough to be part of any squadron. And if you are still not convinced, let her be part of my praetorian guard."

"No. I mean it, Bess."

"Very well then, but don't come running to me when she decides to join me either way." She said with a mischievous smile. 

Ned wanted to roll his eyes. "You never change."

"I do not intend to. Would you like me if I was like any other Earth rose, meek and mild?" She asked.

"No, of course not." He said simply, kissing her one last time before they got out of bed, put back their uniforms and went back to her ball. And just in time because her mother had just arrived and she was happy to be greeted by her daughter.

It didn't take the former Queen of England a lengthy explanation to know what had transpired as Bess gave a bold wink at Ned as he passed them. Her daughter always had her way. In that she was like her father. She saw something and she was determined to have it.

Ned couldn't help but feel glad that the former Queen of England was still alive and well. The only person that didn't come was her companion, the other former queen of England, Catherine of Aragon. _Pity._ That woman's heart had hardened after she learned the truth about her daughter. Still, she had been a good guardian to his niece. No one else could have taken care of her the way Catherine had.

 _"Promise me, Ned ... Promise me..."_ History repeated itself. What his father always feared had come to pass. Looking at Bess he smiled. Her mother had given her a new gift, a silver necklace with a cross. It shouldn't surprise him. After everything she had been through, she still believed in God. Not him. When she asked him to pray with her, he graciously declined. He stopped believing in god after his sister died. The creation of the First Order and seeing his mother and his half-brother working alongside the Supreme Leader and his special freak guard, the knights of Ren, was what finally convinced him to turn his back on his ancestors' gods.  
Bess had been angry. She believed that her god was the one true god, but still loved to learn about other cultures, so when she stormed into his office and saw him taking down all of the seven gods and the weirwood totems, she freaked. It got worse when she asked him about his copy of the Seven pointed star and he pointed to the fireplace where the last pages of it lay burning. Why? -she asked him. Because there are no gods. We are all on our own -had been his answer.  
There were no gods, no god, no nothing. There was the Force but it was no more useful than the nonsense that was written in Earth's sacred texts. It was all just one big lie.   
When he saw his brother at the head of the First Order forces his first instinct was to scream 'whore's son' at him but then he saw their mother next to him and he just couldn't do it. Despite everything, he still felt something for that woman.   
_Maybe I am a fool as Bess is believing in her gods, believing that I can still knock sense into my mother's thick skull._ If not her, then the accolades of followers she had. Young people who worshiped and idolized her. If she could get through to just one of them, then there was still hope.


	4. Winter is coming

 

_"Now is the winter of our discontent."  
 **~Richard III in Richard III play by William Shakespeare.**_

Arthur was just a boy walking a dangerous path. He wasn’t as young as Jaime Lannister when he had become Knight of the Kingsguard, but he was young enough, to still be unable to let go of his feelings for Elia.

As he kept walking, he got taller and became a man. A giant mirror appeared in front of him. It showed him his darkest desires. Where he wanted to go when he was a boy, whom he wished to lie with, and finally his worst fears. He turned. There was nothing there. Turning back to the mirror, he saw Ambrosia clutching her stomach. Blood was coming from her eyes, mouth and stomach.

“Ambrosia.” He called but she couldn’t hear him, she called on her mother, then the Seven, telling them she wanted to be with her sister again.

Arthur woke up. It was always the same nightmare. Elia, Mary’s empty promises and seeing Ambrosia dying with their children still inside.

The med droids had told them that they were expecting twins. Arthur didn’t know whether to be happy or afraid. For Ambrosia, the decision was easy. She chose to be happy because for her, everything had to be perfect. She lived in self-delusion her entire life, so it wasn’t hard to see why, even after everything that had happened, she’d still choose lies over hard truths.

Mentally, he was always living in the present. Physically he was always aware, looking to every direction, even when his head didn’t move but his eyes would, making sure that they were ready to flee in case they were found. Spiritually though, he was always somewhere else.

Ambrosia believed that he was special. One of the dream walkers she had heard so much about in her uncle’s academy. He told her that they were considered “blessed” by the gods. _“Only the most special Jedi can have that ability.”_

_“What about green seers?” Ambrosia asked him._

_Luke shrugged. “Green seers can see the past, present and the possible future. Some can affect it, others can’t. There hasn’t been one with that ability since the Imperial purges.”_

Those that were born with the green seer “gift” were unable to escape the Supreme Leader’s wrath. Ambrosia questioned Arthur daily if he could go back in time and stop this from happening. Arthur told her the truth. He had dreams, messages from his subconscious telling him to be vigilant. There wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. Ambrosia didn’t think so and insisted on letting her inside his mind.

 _“Believe me, Ambrosia,”_ He’d said to her, _“you don’t want to go inside my head.”_

When he was asleep she’d try though and he’d repel her. It was his mind, whatever he stored there were for his eyes only.

Tonight was different. He sensed something was amiss. He stepped out of the bed, not bothered by his nakedness. He was used to less discretion. A life of being in the Kingsguard and growing up in Dorne before that where everything went, made him comfortable with just about everything that had to do with the human anatomy.

Walking to his bathroom, he splashed water on his face. There was a bit of hair growing on his face. He thought of shaving it off. But then thought against it. He liked his face like this; it was the look he had sported since he had been assigned to be part of Rhaegar’s personal guard.

 _“You love her.”_ He heard Jaime Lannister’s voice in his head. After a few seconds of silence he sighed and went back to his bedroom and put on some modest clothing then went to their living room. There in the couch was Ser Jaime Lannister. He looked haggard and worn out as the day he died.

“I am sorry. I truly am, but you cannot have her. You know who she is and what her destiny is.”

“Fuck destiny. You and I have had enough of destiny. It was prophesized that Rhaegar would be the prince who was promised who would span a dynasty that would last a thousand years. The same thing was said about you and your sister and then of Vader and the Emperor. We are who we are because of the choices we make, not because of some other-worldly entity controlling us.”

“It would be great if that were true. I ignored the ghost of my mother when she warned of what was to come. I could have stopped Cersei from doing so many atrocities; but I wasn’t quick enough. You on the other hand still have time. You and Ambrosia still have time.”

Jaime Lannister had a point but so did Arthur Dayne. “I am done with destiny. Find another messiah. Better yet,” he said gesturing to a necklace that Ambrosia had made, that she said was to honor the memory of her ancestors, Anakin and Mary. “why not visit Skywalker’s son? He is the one who should take command, the Jedi placed the fate on the galaxy on him. He should be the one on the sidelines not his family.”

“I have tried but Luke has no respect for a man who has stained his honor.”

Arthur scoffed at that. “We both know why he doesn’t want to see you. You are a mirror image of him. He fucked his sister, and tried to keep her all to himself and nearly lost himself to the dark side. His mistakes is what started this whole mess.”

“Which is why he needs her. Luke was closest to her. She will remind him of his other half, Jane Kyra. You are a man of honor, Ser Arthur. Not long ago you swore never to forsake your vows. I believed in you. Everyone in the Kingsguard looked up to you and Ser Barristan. They called you the greatest of the greatest. The Sword of the Morning and the man of true conscience. If Ser Barristan were here, he would listen.”

“But he isn’t!” Arthur said, cursing himself mentally for shouting. Ambrosia told him to shut up. Arthur sighed in relief that she hadn’t gone out of bed and come face to face with this man. One look at Jaime Lannister’s ghost and she’d be convinced of this man’s foolishness. “I am all you got. And I am not going to put her and my children at risk. I am done with destiny, and the gods.” Arthur hissed.

Jaime Lannister looked down. “I wish you didn’t have to be so stubborn Ser Arthur.” He looked up, facing him again. “But if that is the way you wish things to be, then there is nothing else I can do. May the gods be with you, old friend.”

Jaime Lannister’s ghost vanished. Arthur nearly kicked the furniture and threw just about everything he could find across the room. He didn’t wish to give explanations to Ambrosia so he abstained himself.  
He was tired of playing nanny, and having his strings pulled by these things.

**~o~**

Outside of their home, Poe stood. Like a night stalker, he watched the supernatural events unfold. Even though he wasn’t a strong Force sensitive the way his mother was, he could sense things that normal people couldn’t. When Jaime Lannister appeared, Poe knew at once.

He couldn’t hear what the two were saying and he had no desire to know. He was simply here to make sure that Amby was safe.

The following morning, seeing the two walk hand in hand to the market, Arthur’s eyes showing great discontent, he became convinced that it was time he started to sow the seeds of doubt in Amby’s head.

I am sorry, Amby. But it is for your own good.

* * *

Bess didn’t like General Organa and Lieutenant Colonel Tyrell’s plans. Neither did Ned who thought they were playing with fire, but given their limited resources, she had to give her seal of approval.

“Ambrosia will never forgive them.” Ned said after the two older women left.

Bess nodded. She knew the real reason Ned disapproved. His niece was the other sole survivor of Luke’s academy -and that was only because she decided to leave.

“You won’t tell your niece, will you?” Bess asked him.

“I don’t know. Should I? Because it looks like we are living under a monstrous regime of women. Maybe Knox was right.”

Bess chuckled. “You are so funny sometimes. Knox is an idiot who is hated by both sides.”

“But he makes some good points.” Ned said when they went to her bedroom. “Many of the academy students are starting to wake up and abandon their notions of ‘righteous speech’ and other dumb ideas for economic freedom. The more you and Jane Seymour call him a lunatic, the more followers he gains.”

“One person is smart. Many on the other hand, are stupid.” Bess countered. “The only reason he has many followers is because they are tired of the new republic and the first order. I proposed a new bill that would criminalize all anti-new republican activity but our new imbecile chancellor turned it down.”

“Because it went against the statues the new republic was founded on. I have seen firsthand what banning speech leads to. I fought for the Empire because it promised its citizens safety and they delivered, but when they started going too far, many began to plot against the Empire. The First Order is nothing more than those generals who are savvy enough to know what actions like those will gain them. Believe me, Bess, if you had introduced that bill, the First Order would be stronger than it currently is.”

“Somebody has to do something. You said so yourself, nothing is black and white. If we want to win against them, we have to stop apologizing and fight with everything they got. They kill one of us, we kill then of them and if they torture one of yours then we make hundreds of them dig their own grave. What?” She asked, annoyed when she saw him grin.

“Nothing, it is just … it looks like I got myself in bed with a warrior Queen instead of a senator!”

Bess chuckled. Took off her clothes then his, and pushed him to the giant bed. “Must you continue to insufferable?”

“Must you continue to be so pig-headed stubborn?” He countered, laughing harder when he saw her scowl.

Along with Jane Seymour, General Organa, Lieutenant Tyrell, he and Bess were what was keeping the new republic together. The day they died, would be the day that an entire era would disappear.


	5. One door closes, another one opens

_**"The ones who are always right are the first ones to die. History isn't repeated. It isn't cyclical. It simply rhymes. And the ones who write it are the same imbeciles who can't be cured by reason for they are the product of fallacies. We are what we do in this life. Our choices define us, not our dreams. Those who think otherwise are idiots.  
**_ Plain and simple."  
 ** _~Diaries of a True Warrior by Eliana Dayne, foreword by Rickard Targaryen-Stark_**

The day came when Poe was discovered. When Arthur was away grocery shopping, Ambrosia went out for a walk and Poe let himself be seen.

Ambrosia was angry. Did Poe think she wouldn’t notice him? But to her shock, he told her he had been watching her since the start of her second trimester. “What does my mom want?”

“You know better than to ask questions you already know the answer, Amby. Your mother misses you. She wants you to come home. General Organa needs you too. We all do.”

“So I can be the resistance’s weapon?” She shook her head. “Go and find another idiot. I am tired of playing by anyone’s rules. When I was at Luke’s academy it was ‘dot this’ ‘do that’, nobody asked me what I wanted. And then I come back and my mother blames me for what happened.”

“This is not about you. It never was. Your mother gave everything to ensure you and your sister grew safe. You have no idea the things she has had to do.”

“But I do.” She said and then she surprised him by telling him of her secret “gifts”.

“Amby, why didn’t you say something? You could have stopped-“

“What?” She hissed. “Stopped Luke from becoming crazy and forcing my aunt to have a baby she didn’t want in the first place? I tried talking to your precious General Organa and then my mother. Nobody listened to me. So I escaped. I don’t care what happens to the galaxy. At least, I will be safe. When everything is said and done I can come out of this alive with a family, no worries and no responsibilities.”

Poe sighed. “Those are the hormones talking. You can’t escape who you are. Who you were born to be any more than I can. My mother was one of Luke’s first Jedi, she raised me to be a fighter because she saw great potential in me. And even if I didn’t have that potential, she would still have taught me about the Force and what my parents fought for because she would not have wanted me to live in ignorance, giving birth to the next generation of First Order’s drones.”

“You have a great gift for speech, Poe. Ben was always envious of you. He thought you and I were together. It took all my will power not to snap and point the obvious.”

“Begs the question though, why weren’t we together?” Poe asked. When one of the speeders nearly ran them over, Poe gave some of the bystanders a grin and told them “Thanks for being complete douches!”

Ambrosia wanted to roll her eyes so hard. He noticed the look on her face and, still with that grin on his face, asked “What?”

“Still the same. You never change, Poe. I swear one of these days Kylo will drive his weird looking lightsaber through you.”

“He can go ahead and try. He will still not be the best freaking pilot in the galaxy nor the man who nearly went full joust with the hot Dornish gal.”

Ambrosia chuckled. The two entered a local diner. “Is that what all of the guys at pilot school whispered behind my back?”

“Some of them. The girls were actually jealous. Nym wanted to get in your pants and when you refused her, she gave me her blessing.”

“I still can’t believe that bitch got to be named after one of the sand snakes. What was her mom thinking?”

“Maybe because her mom happened to consider herself one of Oberyn’s many bastards.” Seeing her crossed look, Poe gave a light chuckle. He raised a hand to stop her from saying something. “It’s not like half of Dorne didn’t claim to open their legs to him. Probably those who survived are some of his lost long offspring.”

“Unlikely. But if Nym and her mother want to delude themselves, they are welcome to do so. It’s not like there is not a thing called DNA testing that will prove the contrary.”

“Oh believe me, they no. BB8 proved them wrong but it is a good fantasy. Helps them get by. People can dream, can’t they?”

“Still the same old, Poe.” She repeated. She and Poe asked for soft drinks. The children inside her were getting impatient. They couldn’t wait to be free of their mother’s womb and she couldn’t wait to be back to her normal self either.

“You have to dream. It is what makes life tolerable. Otherwise, what is the use of living?”

“I can think of something better. Having a family, living for them instead of preaching to half the galaxy things they don’t already know and they find annoying.”

“What is so annoying about the truth? General Organa thinks she can push for tougher legislation against the First Order. She still has many friends in the senate, namely the senators from Earth.”

“Nobody likes Earth. The only reason they have managed to stay in power is because she and by she I mean the prime minister, has the support of two women who are considered legends throughout the universe. Not to mention that one of their daughters is her loyal companion who doesn’t care about what is right or wrong as long as she has what she wants.”

“At least they care.”

“What is that supposed to mean? No, wait, I know. I am an idiot because I don’t accept the big responsibilities that the Force has entrusted me with. Or maybe I am just a coward. That was my mother’s favorite word for me.”

“She just wanted to live up to your potential like my mom. Which brings me back to my first point. Why weren’t we ever an item?”

“Many reasons.” She said. “You idolized my mother. You thought she was the greatest thing in the universe after Leia.”

“Maybe but I wasn’t a big asshole like your would-be-boyfriend or a resurrected knight who soiled his honor when he kidnapped young girls for his dragon prince.”

“Say what you want of Ben, he didn’t follow orders like some mindless drone or laughed at hard working people the way you and the Resistance do. Look around you, Poe. These are hard working people, they live day by day. They are running away from crime, from sin,”

“All the more reason to join the side of light!” Poe hissed then softened his tone when some heads turned their way. “You can’t live in ignorance. I follow orders that make sense and I am on the side of good. I choose the side that fights for a better tomorrow. You choose to be like these fools and do nothing.”

“I do my part. Just because I don’t grab a weapon or am like your warrior women, doesn’t mean I am a coward. Why do you think people sided with that two-faced bitch, Sansa Stark? Do you think they saw her looks, her wealth? Of course not. They saw someone who had been crapped at by the so called defenders of women, women who won’t hesitate to pull the trigger on those they consider beneath them. Sansa is many things but she keeps her promises. She didn’t turn away the rape victims or the women who had never raised a finger against either side, but were used as target practice for the Resistance’s best.”

“Those pilots were all put in jail.”

“And yet some are still under your command. What was it Leia and the great Marion always said? Once a rapist, always a rapist? Unless of course you are from the side of the light, in which case fuck it. They can do whatever they want, just as long as they continue to obey orders.”

“If we are about to point fingers, why not answer my question about your lover, huh?” Poe countered. His tone serious, but his eyes were filled with dread. He had tried everything to win her over and she still preferred the amoral bunch. “He kidnapped Ned Targaryen’s grandmother and sold her to her dragon prince. When she tried to escape he kept her locked up in that tower until she gave birth to his bastard.”

“Oh, Poe, you and the Resistance are really desperate. He didn’t sell her to the blasted dragon Prince. He was following orders. He was just like you. If the dragon prince said bend over, he bent over. If he would have told him to take his life so he would live, you bet your ass he would have done it. It wasn’t until he came back to life that he realized that all the oaths he’d taken meant nothing and had in effect, brought about the destruction of everything he held dear, he went his own way. I don’t need to tell you the rest as you probably already know. When he found me, we both knew what we were getting into. I accepted it and so did he because we both wanted a family.”

“Although,” she added, a smile danced on her lips. “I think he still loves her. The first time we were together, he whispered her name. I pretended not to hear but how could I not when those lips kissed my back afterwards.”

“It is still not too late, Amby. I am not your type but I am honest. If you were to come, I’d make sure you and your children would be protected. And,” he bit his lip. Gods damn him, he couldn’t believe he was about to do this, but it was the only way. “I can convince your mother and General Organa to protect  Ser Arthur too.”

“Oh, Poe. Poe, Poe,” she said, pulling her chair next to him. She placed her hand on his shaven face. “I am happy the way I am. Don’t you see? I am mistress of my own destiny. There is no other fate but that which we make for ourselves. If you and the rest in the Resistance were to understand that, you wouldn’t have such a hard time convincing people to join your cause. Ask most of the people here, they believe in the same principles that you do, but hate the way you go about them. I am sorry. I really am.” She said then got up and left.

Being with Poe would have been smarter. Better even. Her offspring could have a father who would worship the ground she walked on, who wouldn’t think of what-ifs or see the face of his dead girlfriend on her face. But she had to go with the roll of the dice and the dice had already been rolled. She was the one who rolled them when she gave herself body and soul to Arthur.

As she headed home, she didn’t notice the dark figure that followed her. When she finally noticed it, it was too late.

By the time that Arthur got home, Ambrosia was on the floor. Her head resting on Poe’s lap. She had gone into labor and the med droids from the clinic weren’t fast enough to stop the bleeding.

“I am sorry.” Poe said, not one for saying that word often but until he finally faced the former Kingsguard, he realized that in his own way, he loved Amby.

Arthur didn’t face him. The two had rushed her to the bed. The med droids along with the midwife told them that even if they got her to the clinic, nothing could be done. She was dying and the only way to save the twins was if they delivered them now.

“I should have listened to you, right? I think that is the big joke.” Ambrosia said, giving a small, pained laugh. She could still feel the two young ones inside her, kicking, begging her to stay alive, long enough for them to be born.

Arthur cried only once. When he heard of what happened to Elia. Now, seeing history repeat itself, he cried again. No tears like those from an indolent fool, but from a man who had gone above and beyond to protect his loved ones and like the first time when he took his vows, he failed.

“I want my mother … can you …” she turned weakly to Poe, “make that happen?”

Poe nodded. He’d be reprimanded for not using a secure line but at this point he could care less. After he got through the resistance base, he was face to face with Lieutenant Colonel Marion. Her face said it all. She had felt a disturbance in the Force, and at once knew what had happened. Poe turned the data pad to her daughter who was being prepped for a C-section. “Hi mum …” Ambrosia said, smiling softly.

Marion looked down then up again. A huge knot formed in her throat. A sob escaped her when she opened her mouth. They were going to open her up and then she’d die just like Leia’s birth mother.

“It’s okay, mommy. I got to see my sister again ... and Ben ...” She said then stopped. She let out a scream when they started to cut. The anesthetics weren’t enough.

“Can’t you give her something stronger!” Arthur hissed, losing his patience.

“I am sorry, sir but if we don’t do this now we could lose the children. We can do nothing to stop the pain except wait for her body to shut down.” The lead med droid said.

The midwife said she was sorry as well. Damn it! Arthur didn’t want to hear these fuckers say they were sorry. He wanted them to be good as they said they were, and do something to mitigate the pain. Ambrosia had done nothing except be born into the wrong family. She didn’t deserve to pass her last moments suffering like this!

“Ser Arthur.” Marion said, her voice gruff, with a strictness that made Poe proud to serve her. “You heard the woman. There is nothing that can be done. Let them do their job.”

“She is your daughter, you heartless woman. Don’t you care that she is dying?”

“How dare you insinuate that I don’t care. Do you think watching her suffer from a plasma screen makes things easier?”

“Mum … Arthur … please, please don’t fight. Mum … I know you still think that I am a coward-“

“Ambrosia, do not start.”

“But I have to mum … please do not go … please do not leave me hanging like last time …”

“No, I won’t leave you.” This time, she wished to say because unlike what she accused her daughter of being, she was the true coward. She was brave enough to look at herself in the mirror and work on herself. Instead, she railed at everyone, and was prone to hysterics -the way most Skywalkers were- whenever things didn’t go her way. But most of all, because she didn’t want to face the truth: that she had failed as a woman, as a wife, and most of all, as a mother.

“Mum … let Arthur take care of my twins … they deserve to be free of destiny … promise me mum …”

Marion couldn’t do that, yet, not wishing to put up with the pain of seeing her daughter beg, she nodded so she would stop talking.

Marion turned to Arthur. “I love you.” She said. Still, he saw Elia. But when she said these words, something changed. He no longer saw the Dornish Princess that had enchanted them all those years ago in her mother’s water gardens. Instead, he saw the woman who had warmed his bed, who had kissed him, and given him a semblance of normality that he always desired.

Marion turned away when Ambrosia began to breath softly. Slow, slower until she said her last words then breathed her last and closed her eyes. Poe bit his lower lips. His hand trembled. He would have dropped the data pad if it were not for Marion Tyrell’s voice reminding him that he had a job to do.

Ambrosia didn’t get to see the faces of her beloved twins but they already knew what they’d be named. They had discussed names since he told of her pregnancy. When Ambrosia was closing her eyes, Arthur placed the two of them on her bloodstained chest.

“I feel them … the Force … it is real … Through the Force, I can hear their thoughts. Jacen Arthur … Jaina Eliana … two suns … two morrows, their words will inspire … they will heal you if you let them … let them …” Were Ambrosia’s last words.

Arthur put the boy in the midwife’s arms and he held the girl. They had inherited his violet eyes, his bone structure, but their hair was the same brown as Ambrosia. They also had their olive oil skin.

All in all, they were a perfect mixture of the two. Although he guessed that they had inherited his intolerance of bullshit because as soon as he looked away, Jaina Eliana began to wail, demanding his attention.

“Poe.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Poe straightened up and turned the data pad to face him.

“Make sure the medical assistants are paid their dues. You know what to do with my daughter’s body.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He said, giving a quick nod, then shut his device off.

After he bribed the midwife and blanked the med droids data banks, he turned to Arthur who looked more interested in the two babes sitting on the small couch next to his bed where Ambrosia’s corpse was.

It hurt Poe to think of Ambrosia as dead, but how else could he think of her when she was the first thing that greeted him when he entered that accursed room.

“Lieutenant Colonel Tyrell and General Organa will want to meet the new additions to the Skywalker family, that means they will want her body back.”

“You can’t have them.” Arthur said. He wore an expression of neutrality but his eyes spoke of deep hatred and plotting when he turned to Poe.

“This is not about you, Dayne. It is about doing what is best for the galaxy.”

Arthur nodded. Took his offspring and as he passed Poe, he whispered, “Fuck you.” Then went downstairs to the living room.

* * *

“Does it make you feel better knowing that you just stood by while you let Poe Dameron take control of the situation?” General Hux asked Kylo Ren.

For someone who claimed to be the master of the Knights of Ren, a prestigious position for a prestigious order, he was nothing more than a fool. He had the upper hand against his cousin but he let it go because as usual, he let feelings get in the way of his duty.

Pathetic. His mother and stepfather had raised him to be fearless, the perfect soldier, with no morals except those assigned to him. Yet here he was, having to baby sit this man child.

“One more word out of you, General and I will make it is your last.”

General Hux knew better than to provoke him, but he couldn’t resist. It wasn’t every day that he got to tell the Supreme Leader ‘I told you so’ and shame Kylo Ren.

Kylo Ren could barely contain his anger. He threatened every soldier who crossed his path.

When he and General Hux finished their little verbal row, Armitage went back to his chambers. _Despicable fool._ Standing outside his chambers was Rhea. _If you only knew._ She could read Armitage better than his mother. He was so wrong, but she couldn’t tell him without risking her position.

She had heard in the news of her sister’s funeral. _Idiot! Idiot!_ If only her sister had listened to her for once in her pathetic, whiny life, she would still be alive.

She had a power that few could rival. She could have been mistress of everything. The entire galaxy -if she wanted to! But no, she preferred to delude herself, thinking she could give it all up and live as a nobody with a disgraced knight who was just as fucked up as she was.

The grand master of the Knights of Ren was a bigger fool. An idiot who thought he could take whatever he wanted without ever facing the consequences. He loved to intimidate people and use his theatrics as a way to garner pity from neutral parties, but he was nothing more than a whiny, little prick. _But I am still with him._ Unlike her sister, she had learned the importance of family. Despite his obvious flaws, she would never abandon Kylo because he was family and because together, with the other Knights of Ren, they’d fulfill Darth Vader’s legacy, the greatest hero that ever lived.

When she knocked on Armitage Hux’s door, and it slid open, the expression on her face changed. Though he wasn’t in tune with the Force like the knights of Ren were, he always had a way of finding out what people were thinking. And he was good at finding out what her thoughts were.

When she stepped into his rooms and the automatic door closed behind her, she took off her mask. There was no trace of deception, or sorrow there. She decided to leave sad thoughts in favor of pleasure.

* * *

Rey emptied her cup. Today’s portion was significantly better than the one she got last week. When Unkar wasn’t looking, she sneaked on the old ships and practiced driving. She was pretty good at it.

Someday, she was sure, she would become the greatest pilot in the galaxy.

It was weird though. She still saw that woman in her dreams. But she didn’t seem to annoying like last time. There were tears but not in big amounts like before. It was as if Rey had given her a peace of mind when she took on the role of her daughter and said ‘yes’.

And yet, Shireen, it was a good name. Not weird or hard to pronounce like some alien names but simple. Elegant, even. _Maybe if I ever get out of here and start a family, I will name my kid that._

 _Yeah, right._ Her mind told her as she put her cup down. There was no chance of that happening. Wherever her parents were, they had left her here for a reason. So until she found them or they returned for her, she had to live her boring, old life and do as she always did, and that meant waiting for a better tomorrow.


	6. Not letting the past die Part I

_"Now is the winter of our discontent."  
**~Richard III by William Shakespeare**_

When Mary was a little girl, she’d run up to the top of a castle, claiming that someone special was waiting for her. Obi Wan asked her to be tested. Did he suspect that she was his daughter? Catherine wondered.

Of course he did. He had to. Mary was sneaky. She would tip-toe from her bedchamber to hers. On one occasion, Obi Wan tried to blank her memory but found himself unable. Instead, he convinced her it was all a dream.

Catherine wiped a tear from her eye. Not a day went by when she didn’t think of her daughter. She tried to convince herself of the truth, but that had been too hard for her to swallow.

She looked through the collage she made of old discarded holo-images and miniatures. Mary was smiling in every one of them. Before she went to bed, Catherine thought she heard the giggles of a little girl but when she turned on the lights, there was nobody there.

“Mary?” Just in case, Catherine asked aloud. There was no answer. She turned off the lights again. Then, she heard laughter again. “Mary!” This time she was sure. She turned the lights on, got off from her bed and still in her nightgown, raced down the stairs to the living room. There, sitting in the couch was her daughter.

“My sweet Mary. How I missed you.” She was so perfect. Everything about her was absolutely flawless. Her rosy lips, her fair skin, heart-shaped face and her auburn hair. It was gorgeous. A burning red, just like her father’s.

“I missed you too, mommy.” The five-year-old said, letting herself be hugged by her mother. When Catherine got on the couch and placed her on her knee, Mary asked, “Mommy, are you happy I came back?”

“I am happy. So happy.” Catherine was not making sense. It sounded like garbled talk, but she was just so happy to have her daughter back.

In that moment, Obi Wan appeared. Or rather, his ghost. “She is back with us.”

Obi Wan gave the two of them a weak smile. She truly was but it was not the Mary they created. She was twisted and evil like she’d always been before she was reincarnated as their daughter.

“That she is. Catherine, she is not your daughter. Not anymore.” Obi Wan emphasized strongly on his sentence, his eyes shifting from Catherine to the small girl on her lap.

Anakin had always accused him of being cold and uncaring. Truth was, he still cared for his daughter. But she had been damaged from the start. She was ruthless, sentimental and unable to control the great gifts the Force had bestowed on her.

“Do not say that. She is. Do you remember the song I sang to you before you slept?”

“Catherine, do not make this harder for me than it already is.” Obi Wan warned, his voice breaking as Catherine returned her gaze at Mary and the two began singing. “She is not our Mary anymore. She is back to her true form. She is playing with you. That is what she does. What she’s always done to her victims.”

“No. I refuse to believe that. She is my daughter. Didn’t you hear her? It’s her voice. Her five-year-old self. She is mine.”

“No, she is not.” Obi Wan yelled. Catherine pushed her daughter closer to her, shielding her from Obi Wan’s form. “How can you explain her waltzing into your mansion, wearing her five-year-old self? Think, Catherine! Think!”

“You never cared about her. That time when she walked in on us, you tried to convince her that it was all a dream but she knew we were lying. Even after every lie I told, she stood by me and refused to betray me. But I did betray her. I am not going to make that same mistake, again.”

“You are not betraying you. Mary had her own demons and she was incapable of dealing with them. Her suicide was not our fault.” He said, knowing that Catherine also blamed him for her death. “I tried to stop her. I told her that if she were to die, a part of me would too.”

“And look how well that went.” Catherine shot back. “She couldn’t deal with the pain of seeing her precious jewels die. No mother should have to see her children die. That is a pain I knew all too well. You …” Catherine smirked. “who had many women thrown at your feet, never knew what it was like.”

Obi Wan’s eyes flared. How dare she make such assumptions of him? “I was the one who watched her throw herself off that balcony and saw her brains splattered all over the pavement floor. So don’t accuse me of not understanding. Who was the one who tried to stop her mother from killing her when she didn’t answer like you wanted? Who was the one who stopped Anakin from killing himself and taking her in the process when he thought that was the only way that they could ever be together?”

“You were hardly there for her, growing up. You wanted to get her tested so she could become another vestal warrior for your order. Tell me, Obi Wan. Would that have made it easier on your former apprentice or worse? Seeing his image of you destroyed sooner when everyone discovered that she was your daughter and that you were far from the good Jedi you preached to be.”

“I never said I was perfect. I care for my daughter. I have tried to stir her back into the light but you have seen it yourself, she doesn’t want to be part of the light. She is all dark.” Obi Wan said firmly, looking pointedly at Mary.

The five-year-old gave her ghostly father an innocent smile. Obi Wan wasn’t fooled so easily. Behind that innocent form lay a monster whose only purpose was to consume everything that was good in pure in every being in the galaxy.

“I have always loved you, Catherine. I will remain by your side until you and I can be together as one, as part of the Force. I am asking you, look into her eyes. There is nothing there.”

Catherine did not heed his warning. She took Mary to her bed and tucked her under the covers. Obi Wan was wrong. Her daughter was innocent. And if being consumed by darkness was what it took to be with her again, then so be it. Catherine was still faithful and her faith would be enough to stir Mary back into the light.

* * *

Rey scavenged through more junk parts from the latest star destroyer. Over thirty years ago, legend had it that there had been a great battle on this wasteland. Before that, it was one of the scientific research labs in the Empire.  
As she rummaged through the main hangar, she found some test tubes. _Strange._ Other Star Destroyers had a simpler design. The main hangar would be where the ships docked. But this looked like it had served another purpose. She took a crowbar and smashed the tubes to pieces. Nothing but amniotic fluid. She knew it by the smell. Before people started to leave this dump, she got a part time job working as a midwife apprentice. Every delivery was different but one thing remained the same: every female that was about to give birth, released a sack of smelly liquid.

Who had been in these? Or rather, how many people had they tortured in these? That was the only explanation. Cloning facilities were in Kamino or in other worlds with a tradition of genetic engineering. Unless the empire wanted to keep this a secret from noisy committees. But why go through all this trouble? The empire always did what they pleased. They controlled the press. The best reporters were in their payroll. _  
None of this makes sense._

She found strange symbols in each of them. She knew how to read some of them. One had the letters Alpha and Omega, from an ancient dialect from the primitive Earth. Others had an old form of basic mixed with Kamino dialect.

 _Maybe they were trying to clone someone._ Whoever the original subject was, he was probably dead and the clones had served no grander purpose than the clones during the clone wars and at the beginning of the empire.

_I am wasting my time._

She took some valuables and went back to her speeder. Unkar wouldn’t give her much for them, but it would be better than nothing. She had gone two days without portion. She needed something to take her mind off food and what better than a good portion that wouldn’t wake her up at night and remind her of her miserable existence.

* * *

Thomas Seymour loved isolation. Ned thought that he was a rabble rouser. His brother was too shy to notice the obvious. Thomas attracted unwanted crowds because he wanted to cause envy in his older brother. He was tired of being a follower and wanted to be seen as a leader. Not only that, but he wanted to show something to that ungrateful bitch who always put Edward first.

She must be laughing now. Margery Wentworth always regretted her marriage to his father. _John Seymour -_ she’d said- _was never good enough for me. I was destined to marry someone greater. You have my blood, son. Bring back honor to my ancestors._  
She’d say this while Thomas was present. A little boy hoping his smiling face and gleaming eyes would make his mother turn and notice him.

That bitch never did.

Then there was Marcella and Marion. They were his distant cousins, or so they claimed. It didn’t take him long to figure out they were his bastard sisters. His mother was kind to them (on purpose). She’d give them the bigger portion of a cake or the special soup their cooks were preparing for dinner. When they went on picnics, she’d let them win every race, unless Edward was present. Everything so Thomas will know that he wasn’t special and that his sin was not being her son, but being his father’s.

It was ironic. The sins of the father had been passed to another son. Thomas could barely stand Han when he was a boy. Every day he was sneaking out of the house, or getting into fights with the local bullies. Jane begged him to go easy on him. Sweet Jane, she was always understanding. But Thomas knew his son all too well. He was like him, and like him, it wouldn’t be long before scandal followed him.

Princess Leia Organa was intrigued by him. He was the first man who didn’t bow down to her, but didn’t threaten her either. He was a rogue and like most royals, she was drawn into this roguish charm. _Royals always love new things._ And that was what his son was, something exotic. He was her pet project, something she could ‘fix’ just like she had fixed other people.

Thomas warned him not to get too close. Leia would never see him as anything other than a subject. But damn that boy. He didn’t want to listen until it was too late. _And now the galaxy is in ruins because another Skywalker and Seymour aimed too high._

 _Sins of the father._ He sat down and opened his journal. The screen was turned on. Instead of the news, he put on a drama play by a talented youth called William Shakespeare. He was one of the youths Elizabeth Tudor and his sister had sponsored. He had a talent for creating sad and funny plays that were a mirror to their twisted society.

Today’s play was his most famous, Richard III. A twisted figure with a crooked back gave an evil smile as he stared right at the viewer. “Now is the winter of our discontent.” He went on to narrate how his plan would take effect and undo all the good deeds that had been done during his brother’s reign.

“And it will start with …” He laughed maniacally as he gestured to the portrait of Elizabeth Woodville. “A rumor.”

The woman playing Elizabeth Woodville was a Twi’lekk-human hybrid. Her skin was white with blue wavy stripes. She had pointy ears and long yellow hair. Thomas thought it was a good contrast to the real one who had also been fair and allegedly related to the water goddess Melusina.

As the play transpired, Thomas neared the end of his diary. When he finished, there would be no more pages for him to write, dates to record. It would all be as if his story were over and he was no longer relevant to the mayor events that were about to take place.

Thomas closed his journal and put it on the table in front of him then returned his gaze at the screen. The Twi’lekk human hybrid was crying now. “My babies.” She knelt before two unmarked graves. Behind her was an older woman playing Cecily Neville, Richard III’s mother and the princes’ grandmother. “Angels” she called them then raised her head, looking at the sky where she hoped they’d come down to tell her that everything would be alright. But they never came. Instead, another specter answered. This was none other than Margaret of Anjou who took on the role of Cassandra, the doomed Trojan Princess and prophetess.

Margaret was asked by her fellow queen if she could teach her about curses, so the three of them, like the three fates of Greek mythology, could will their wrath on Richard III. Margaret gleefully accepted.

Before long, Henry Tudor was shown. Richmond, he was called. A dashing young man with blond hair and piercing blue eyes. He was everything that Richard was not and he, through his bravery and piety, defeated Richard.

 _How much did Elizabeth pressure the terrestrial bard so he wouldn’t turn Henry VII like his son did, into an ogre?_ Henry VIII always fashioned himself after his Yorkist maternal grandfather, calling himself the best of all Tudors because unlike his father, he didn’t have to prove the throne was his by right. He was the embodiment of the union of Lancaster and York. A true King who was loved by everyone.

Even through all the money that the Senator had spent to make her ancestor look like an angelic prince, one thing she couldn’t convince Shakespeare on was the cautionary lines that came after he was given Richard’s crown by his stepfather Thomas Stanley.

“Wear it. Make much of it! And make us all proud. God’s good green earth’s debt is on you.”

Thomas Seymour almost laughed at that. Henry Tudor, now Henry VII, being shown crowned and married to Elizabeth of York in the throne room in the following scene, promised that on his word, his bloodline would see that the massacre that had killed many good people, would never happen again.

“Long life!” Everyone cried to Henry VII.

Before Thomas turned it off, he was surprised by the last scene. It was Margaret of Anjou again. Unlike the end of the play, Shakespeare had decided to add something to this production. Margaret had a mirror. Behind her, two shadowy figures. Sith-like. Master and apprentice that evaporated and became something more sinister. Then as the camera was lifted, it showed a field of blood and corpses forming a strange sign. It was a sign he knew all too well. It had been seen in the North of Westeros beyond the Wall. It represented the White Walkers or the Great Others who had been created by the children of the forest in their foolish attempt to combat the humans. It was a symbol of evil and also of how quickly something pure could become impure.

Thomas had seen enough for one day. He turned it off. He didn’t need to be reminded of evil. He saw evil every night in his dreams.


	7. From Beyond

**_"Innocence is a powerful weapon. When you learn how to use it, you become invincible. You can kill your enemies with a smile, kill thousands and still be regarded as a victim."_ **

**_~Innocence Lost by Lady Death_ **

“What do you want to do now, Mary?” Catherine asked her miniature daughter. Mary laughed for days at the new doll house her mother had bought her. Catherine didn’t dare to correct her when she called it her castle of castles. It could be whatever she wanted it to be.

“I want you to play with me mommy.” Catherine sat down and began to play, breathing life into her dolls. “You want her to be your Queen. See? A castle has to have a queen and the strongest piece in the chessboard is …”

“The Queen!”

“Exactly.” Catherine smiled.

Obi Wan stood there watching. “You can come out and play too, daddy.” Mary told her father, giving him the same innocent smile as before.

“No, thank you. I will rather stand.”

“Suit yourself. Mommy, can I go out and see the Naboo theater? I heard there is a clown who begs for money. I want to give him some credits so he is not so sad.”

“What clown? I never heard of Naboo theater and I lived her for decades.” Catherine commented. She turned to Obi Wan to see if he knew what she meant but Obi Wan was just as clueless as her.

“They call him dumb-dumb. I heard some of the kids whisper his name. But I do not remember. They say he is really old. Perhaps you know him daddy?”

Again, she tried to make the Jedi ghost smile and again his expression remained neutral. “I knew a lot of people when I was a Padawan.” He said then took a seat in the empty chair next to Mary’s doll house.

“But you did know a lot of people from Naboo. You rescued Queen Amidala and helped her fight the Trade Federation.”

It wasn’t a question. Obi Wan nodded.

“Of course he did. You remember the stories. You always remembered everything.” That was the one thing that Catherine missed about her daughter. It was her innocence and her curiosity. Mary could remember many things at once. Growing up, she surprised her tutors when she’d question them the recite every word she read from her books in perfect Latin. Henry attributed it to his side of the family but Catherine knew the truth.

“Is daddy going to stay longer? Can he come to the theater too? I want the clown to see a familiar face so he doesn’t feel sad anymore.”

“He will. Won’t you, Obi Wan?”

Obi Wan nodded. He refused to leave Catherine’s side, even for a second. Melusina was after one thing and one thing only. She fed from the blood of innocents. Her whole purpose was to consume the goodness in people’s souls. That was why Plagueis chose her to be reborn as their daughter.

There were times where he was tempted to leave to contact Anakin but Anakin had become a hermit who didn’t want to be contacted and he had left it clear to Obi Wan that he never wanted to see him again. Knowing Mary, she would use that opportunity to do something to Catherine or worse, reach Anakin and turn the two of them against him.

_How could I love her? But I do. I love her. I see her and I do not see a monster. A thing. I see the young woman whose eyes begged me to save her and I could do nothing but watch as she descended into madness._

He and Catherine went to the town square in Theed where Mary claimed the “clown” was. Obi Wan was surprised to find the clown was none other than Jar-Jar Binks.

“Meesa once said that Isa would help you. Help me, help me -I screamed. Yousa dumb. Dumb, Master Anakin said. Young Ani. Good, good Jedi, he be!” Kids laughed and threw credits and he clumsily dropped them to the floor then put them in the basin in front of him.

Few people could see him, unless he wanted the rest to. For this occasion, Obi Wan showed himself to the world. A man who looked no different than the living. His translucent form that Catherine was used to, gone.

After the kids left, Jar-Jar’s eyes perked up and ran straight to them. “Obi Wan, eezy really you! Isa happy. You a miracle.”

Mary giggled. Her mother grabbed her hand and told her that was rude. “I am sorry. The clown is funny. You talk funny.”

Catherine gave an apologetic glance to Jar-Jar. There was a special reason why Mary had done this. She didn’t show any remorse or sadness as when she spoke of this “clown”. He looked at the weathered Gungan as if he was an insect she could easily squash.

“This is not my true form. I am dead Jar-Jar.” Obi Wan explained.

Jar-Jar lowered his gaze. “Oh, meesa truly sorry. Yousa see Qui Go where you are?”

“I do. Jar-Jar, how long have you been like this? Why didn’t you go to Anne, Catherine or anyone else? I am sure they would have helped you.”

“Meesa …” A tear rolled down his left eye. “… helped elect chancellor Palpatine. Meesa guilty for the Empire. Guilty for the First Order. Meesa didn’t want to be a burden to good nobles anymore.”

“What about your people? Surely, they could have done something.” This time it was Catherine who spoke, saddened that someone who meant so well could have hit rock bottom.

Jar-Jar turned to Catherine. “The Gungan elders do not wish to see meesa. They banished meesa too and this time for good. Do not be sad, my lady. This is good for meesa. Redemption is the best cure for guilt.”

This was not redemption. This was humiliation. Catherine offered more credits from her purse and a place for the Gungan to stay but Jar-Jar refused. “I have a place. It is on the ladies of charity center. They give meesa hot soup and a single bed. I have need of nothing. Good day to you, my lady. It was good to see you again, Obi Wan. And … who is this?” He asked, looking down at Mary.

Before Obi Wan could tell Jar-Jar she was an orphan Catherine had adopted, Catherine beat him to it by answering with the truth. “This is Mary. Isn’t it a miracle?”

“Mary! Lady Mary! But she dead!” Jar-Jar jumped in fright. There were stories. Dark tales of people coming back to life. But they never come the same -old priests said. They always come differently.

“Yes but she is alive again. Thank God. Mary is the one who convinced us to come here. You must excuse my enthusiasm. I am just so happy to have her back.”

 _Meesa in trouble!_ Jar-Jar wanted to scream at her. There was something off about that girl. It wasn’t the smile of a little girl. There was something sinister about her. He was no Jedi but he had spent a lot of time in the company of priests and then Jedi, to know about the unknown.

 _Look where that got you_ -a treacherous voice said in his head. It was right. Jar-Jar couldn’t trust himself to be a good judge of character. For all he knew, this was a miracle and he was simply overreacting.

“Can we walk Jar-Jar to his home?” Catherine nodded and asked Jar-Jar if he minded. He didn’t. As Catherine and Mary followed behind them, Obi Wan turned to Jar-Jar, having sensed his misgivings earlier.

“She is not Mary.” He told the gungan in a low voice. “I do not know why she is back but this is not normal.”

The Gungan had suspected it but he thought it the ramblings of an old fool.

“Whosa she then? Yousa say she is Melusina.”

“She is Mary but it is complicated. On Earth she was revered as a water goddess. In truth, she is a celestial. A higher being who was corrupted by the dark side and belongs to that which the Jedi do not speak of. She is a being of pure darkness.” Obi Wan told him. “When Catherine had her, I tried to convince her to have her tested but she refused. As she got older, I suspected but-“

“Yousa didn’t want to leave your daughter.” The Gungan interrupted, seeing the dead Jedi having a hard time telling the truth. “Meesa understand Obi Wan. She is your daughter, still. Who she was, doesn’t change anything. The Jedi are beings of light. Yousa can bring her back.”

Obi Wan gave the Gungan a sad smile and said softly, “I do not think that is possible, old friend.”

After the three said farewell to Jar-Jar, they returned home. Catherine read a bedtime story to Mary.

As Obi Wan watched her daughter sleep, he thought about what Jar-Jar said.

* * *

 

A traveler from beyond the Outer Rim claiming he had seen ‘what goes behind the space between the spaces’ went on to rant about how the end was coming.

Where do you find these people? And why did Rey have to encounter them every time she passed Kelvin Ridge. Seriously! These people were of a special kind of crazy. They believed that they had the answers to everything. After a while, kids would gather in a circle and hound them, throwing stones and sand in their faces, hoping that would shut them up. It emboldened them.

After a good day of scavenging (for a change), she returned home, to her fallen AT-T. Home sweet home, she had written in a new doll she made out of old discarded clothing. She had a small mirror. When she looked at her appearance, she thought about letting her hair down.

One of these days, when the sun was down and she could afford a good flashlight, she would -to see how she looked. Until then, she would give the mirror her back, only looking after she had done adjusting it.

When she was a kid, the other kids said it was pathetic but she thought it was ingenuous. Her parents would know who to look for when they came back for her.

Brown eyes, light brown hair. That sure narrows it down. Just in case, she always looked around when a ship docked and someone bearing those features came out. But so far, no such luck.

She lay down and closed her eyes. She was going to dream of visiting that strange place, a stake burning and a woman dressed in red calling everyone to applaud the great sacrifice that would be made in her lord’s honor. She used to fear them, part of her still did but a big part of her had become accustomed to them, to the point that it would seem weird not have them.

So off to the world of nightmares she went. This time, another scene was added. It was the same young beautiful pregnant woman from last time, only this time she was standing alone staring down at her reflection in the water. The sky was purple, pink and there were no trees around her. It was desolate wasteland, except it didn’t feel like that to Rey.

The woman lifted her gaze and met Rey’s eyes. She gave her a smile then Rey opened her eyes. It was still night.

 _I can’t be losing my mind._ She’d always had nightmares, but none as vivid as these. And they all started when I drew that symbol. A sword of light that looked like a lightsaber from what she heard about the mythical Jedi. It was nothing special. She drew it as a joke when she was bored but somehow that had ignited a chain of events that didn’t let her have a goodnight sleep.

She tried to go back to sleep but sleep never came, so she turned to her side, extended her arm, pushing the metal door open, and staring at the night sky, waiting for the sun to come up.

* * *

 

Ned put down his battle gear. The New Republic refused to listen to Leia. And Bess wasn’t helping. The two women didn’t trust each other. Bess thought it was time for Leia to get down from her high horse and Leia thought that Bess was too harsh in her approach.

Both, in his opinion, needed to get off their high fucking horse. It was driving everyone mad. He went into his bathroom and splashed water in his face. Arthur Dayne was still as formidable as ever. He had beaten all of his star pupils, including his fellow commanders in single combat.

He is not here for the praise, that’s for sure. Ned couldn’t beat him. Age was catching up with him. His hair was turning grey and there were creased lines on his forehead. He got to his living room and sat on his favorite chair. It was the same chair that Elizabeth had sat when she delivered him the ‘wonderful’ news.

He gave a half-hearted smile as he remembered that day. He understood why Arthur Dayne hated Poe Dameron and the entire Resistance. General Organa and her half-sister loved to think that they were on the sight of justice but in truth, they were just as corrupt as every other official in the New Republic.

The Sword of the Morning had lost the one woman who had given him a chance to have a family. Although he was a man of few words, his eyes said it all.

Ned was curious after their match. He asked him where did he go after he died? Arthur gave a dry laugh and told him, _“You’ve heard about the seven hells. This is much worse.”_

His father said that he saw nothing after he died. Anakin later told him that was a lie. There were places you went, places that the human mind was too weak to comprehend. But like Arthur, he’d also refused to tell Ned more about it.

Doubt would creep into his mind and he’d wonder what life would be like if he had the courage to ask the red priestess about what was beyond. If that could have helped him save his father and prevent his mother from doing what she did. But as soon as it came, it went.

According to the red chronicles, people who came back from the dead, didn’t come back the same. Something always came back with them and that something ended up consuming everyone who’d been close to them.

* * *

 

C-3PO tried to bring R2 back online. He missed having friendly conversations with the outdated astromech droid.

“R2 you would like to be part of this. Remember what you told me? You were recording this, how can you record when you are offline.” C-3PO said. The goldenrod as he was referred to by some turned to the famous galactic bard. “At least there is someone who’s fulfilling your task, but he does have a penchant for the dramatic if I may say so myself.”

William Shakespeare was an odd fellow. He had seen a lot of horrible things in his short life and yet he had a way of compartmentalize that, and turn it into something funny.

“Humans.” C-3PO said with an air of arrogance, turning back to his old friend. “They are an odd bunch. But he does good work for Senator Tudor.” As if on cue, a forty something auburn-haired female came to greet Shakespeare. “I wonder what his new assignment will be. Taming of the Shrew is probably based on General Organa and Commander Martell-Tyrell.”

That play had caused the two older women nearly to explode. The former English Princess, wanted to do her part to help the galaxy, and thought that it was time for a practical solution instead of taking the moral high ground like the Resistance’s leaders had always done. Alas! The Resistance were nothing but idealists and naturally, they didn’t listen.

“This is something you would deem worthy to record.”

R2 remained silent. After Master Luke had left, he shut down. Nobody knew why except the protocol droid. R2 had become severely attached to Masters Skywalker, Solo, Organa, Martell and all the other leaders in the Rebel Alliance back in the old days of the Galactic Civil War. He had also been very close with their parents. After the New Republic was founded, R2 retrieved C-3PO’s deleted memories and gave them back to him. C-3PO was grateful to him for that. He showed them off to Anakin but Master Anakin wasn’t interested in his joy. He was more interested in him and R2 hacking into the old Imperial database so he could have access to Sith and Jedi documents.

Before he left, R2 warned Anakin not to go ahead with his plan. Whatever he was looking for, he was not going to find it doing that. C-3PO echoed R2’s feelings, although his response came as colder and less caring. He understood enough of what were in those documents, to understand that the results would be the same. Master Anakin turned his back and told them he was grateful for helping them, but that this was goodbye.

Truly odd creatures. Illogical, destructive and arrogant. And yet, R2 had a strong affinity to them. R2 told him of his wishes to be one of them. If he was human, the protocol droid would gasp in shock. They were droids. Made with a purpose. It was their reason to exist. There was no reason why they had to go out of their way and behave like their creators? It was against their programming.

Senator Tudor and her bard passed him. He echoed his earlier thoughts to R2. “I wonder what play she will ask him to write now.”

Unbeknownst to C-3PO, Elizabeth had looked at R2. It was only for a split second. She felt pity for the small droid. He had known Anakin and Mary as well. He had seen what his favorite masters had devolved to and following Luke’s failure he powered down. Shakespeare would have enjoyed looking at R2’s memory bank. There were so many good stories left to tell, and it was a pity that none would be heard as the little droid refused to be powered up.


	8. Towards the end of a bad dream

_"Life is an odd dream. A strange concept which you are unable to grasp until death is at your doorstep. When she is near, you forget about how horrible your life is. All you can think of is: please don't take me. I will tolerate whatever bad things come my way. Just don't take me. The next day, like a jilted lover, you cry out to her until your eyes dry up. But she isn't coming back. Not for a long time. She is a cruel mistress. When she finally does, be gentle with her. Take her hand and don't look back._   
_Death is peaceful. Death is fair. Life on the other hand is a terrible dream from where we wish we can wake up. Time is its guardian, the armored soldier who stops us from going back and correcting our mistakes."_   
**_~Bad Joke by Lady Death_ **

“You need to go back to where you came from.” Obi Wan told Melusina.

“Why? Are you going to make me like you made me give up my children last time, daddy?” She asked, once again showing him an innocent smile.

His face bled with anger. She giggled. “You are funny. Have you ever been told that? You loved mommy so much and yet you abandoned her for that fellow Jedi. What was her name now? Sara? Siri or something like it?” Mary shook her head.  “Then you returned to Satine’s arms. You never loved any of them but you were drawn to them for the same reason that my Anakin was drawn to Padme. They made you feel normal.”

“Anakin loves you. He always has but I cannot leave without you doing something to Catherine. You’ve won. Your disciple has taken over half the galaxy and turned his descendants against the Order they were vowed to protect.”

“If I go, what would happen to mommy? You’d leave, won’t you? She will hate you for it. Her love will turn into hatred and she will recall how you failed to protect her when she was Arthur’s prisoner?”

“How dare you accuse me of abandoning her?”

“I am not accusing. I am merely stating. You abandoned her when she needed you the most.” Mary told him. She got down from her bed and went to play with her dolls. “Do you want to play with me? Mommy left me in charge of the house but I do not like playing with the droids. They are boring and I don’t think BB8 likes me.”

Of course he didn’t. The droid was very much in tune as the older R2 unit had been and knew that Mary was not to be trusted. “Poe Dameron won’t be back for another week. He leaves all kinds of droids with us. I like most of them.” She said putting her favorite doll with pink and blue ribbons on her couch next to the king. “But BB8 is annoying.”

“He has a positronic brain like R2-D2.” Obi Wan stated, “He can see right through you just as a living being. The Force is strong with him.”

“You have changed your tune. You used  to think of Jar Jar as a pathetic life form and droids as nothing more but tools. All it took was one death. I had to go through the farthest depths of hell to know one simple truth. That nothing matters except passion.”

“And you are wrong.” Mary added turning to her father. Her eyes flashed red. It was the same blood red color he saw on them when she’d been raised by the death by Anakin on Mortis. “And you are wrong. Snoke was never my disciple. Like you, he used to believe in all the principles of the master he was bound to serve from birth but once he saw the universe for what it was, he improved himself. He is going to win and it is all going to be on you.”

“Is this why you are doing this? Revenge? Get this through your head, Melusina. You are not my daughter. You never were and neither were you Catherine’s. You were placed in our path by Plagueis. A sick and twisted soul just like you.”

“You can keep telling yourself that, daddy but you know the truth. I am your daughter. You and mommy created me out of love and it was because of that love that I died.” She turned back to her dolls.

“I wanted to take my own life the first time Henry VIII disowned me. I refused to call myself Lady Mary. But I let Anakin call me by my Christian name because he was the only one who saw me and loved me for me. When my sons died, I lost all sense of reality. I wanted to die. I thought if I prayed long enough that I’d die but instead I got another day. Another chance to be ridiculed and spit at the Holo Net and by countless idiots who blamed me for all the ills of the galaxy. You want fairness? There is none.”

“Leave this place, Melusina. You had your chance of redemption. You had your chance at being a child. You spoiled it. It is time for you to go home.”

“No. I am going to stay and so will you.” She said, then to reinforce it, she added with a note of finality: “Anakin will find the truth of what has been kept from him and when he does, he will return to me.”

* * *

Rey practiced with her staff. She had gotten good at fending robbers and would-be-rapists but she needed to get better. Night was where these fiends would come out at most. Night was their realm. Rey had a fascination with it. She’d sit back and watch the stars thinking of all the places she could visit if she didn’t have to wait so long for her parents.

When they come back, I am going to see them all. She was lucky she always knew who to trust. Other girls weren’t so lucky. She put her staff down and walked inside her home. She had another day to mark on her wall. She nearly lost count but when she made more than one portions she had enough time to count the lines and remember how long it’d been since she’d been placed in this dump.

Rey had a modest jacket she had fashioned of animal hairs and faux skin. It was cozy when her blanket wasn’t enough to keep her warm.

“Dream.” She said to herself. Another endless night where she’d be visited by specters or go into a past she was unaware was her own.


End file.
